Up north for the weekend

Hal writes:

This weekend Anna and I went up north to visit both families. Our first stop was at an outlet mall on the way up for some good deals (multiple $4 items at the GAP!) before getting to Shell Lake to see Anna's mom and Kat. The next morning we went to a local Scandanavian imports store that was closing. Everything was 50% off and it was the last day so there were deals to be found. I walked away with two Scandanavian sweaters direct from Norway and we both found some other treasures. After our shopping adventure we had lunch at Alley Cats, a coffee shop in Spooner.


"But baby, it's cold outside..." Brrr, not the best weekend to head north. While in Spooner there were activities for "Jack Frost Days". Here is a picture of the temperature at high noon.

In addition to Ice Fishing, snowmobile races, and other winter games, I also participated in some winter contests. Below is me attempting to Turkey Bowl on the frozen lake. I chose the Butterball in an attempt to knock down the pins. The first few tosses were wide left, but after the turkey and I came to an understanding, I was able to knock a few down. Next up came the four hole golf course on the frozen lake. You can see the tire and flag on the left acting as the hole and pin. Clubs are the same, but we used colorful nerf balls that you can see in the snow. But, as cold as it was, I only completed one hole.
After Wisconsin we were up in Minnesota to visit my parents for the rest of the weekend. In addition to Valentine's Day presents, my mom put together a shadow box of items from my second marathon (medal, newspaper clippings, pictures, etc.). And my dad made it known that he added the bracket on the back to be able to hang it up on the wall. ;)

This week has been very busy for me with hall sign-up processes. Last night I was up to 1am working on consolidation. I enjoy this type of work, but I can go without the nightmares I have been having where I mess up the process and my supervisor yells at me. No fun!